The Stoneclawed Guild
Prologue "Ok, I've got to do it today!" The she-cat murmured to herself, pacing around in front of the den. She looked up at the den, moss covered the entrance, stones had been stacked together to form the den, and it still stood strong today, after generations and generations of the acient Stoneclaw built it. "I'll join them today!" she ran over for the mos that covered the entrance of the den, but was stopped as she stepped on a layer of tree limbs. "Cat above! Cat above!" The she-cat flew off the plat form, shrieking in fear, she sighed. Then sat down, letting her leaf-bag slide off of her. "Oh who am I kidding? I don't have the courage to go in there..." She side, reaching into her bag, then pulled out a red, shiny stone. "I was hoping if I have this with me...I'd have the courage to go in. But looks like I was wrong..." With that, she grabbed her shiny stone, and set it back into the leaf bag. Leaf bags were things made by the town cats to carry things in. But rescue and explorer cats were gifted with store-bags made by the guild, they could be carved from stone or weaved from twigs, lined with moss on the inside. "Maybe...maybe some other time..." Chapter I'' "Ugh..." The she-cat opened her eyes. Everything felt weak and sore, she was parched and hungry, yet, she couldn't remember ''anything! Upon realization, she shot up, only to break into a cough, and for her head to hurt worse than before. "Where am I?" The scent of Saltwater filled the she-cats nostrils, and the gritty feeling of sand was wet under her paws. She let off another groan, and forced herself to her paws. She then looked into the water hoping for some sort of reflection, nothing but a grey blob in the saltwater reflection... the she-cat then sighed, sitting down, gazing out on the beach. "Excuse me?" The she-cat snapped her head to the side, making her head pound in protest. For a moment, all it was was a brown blob, then as her vision came into a focus, a cinnamon colored tabby she-cat. She simply gave off the faintest nod in greeting, then looked back down, hoping that would help the pain in her head. She felt a presence beside her. "Does you heard hurt?" She nodded once again, wanting to go back to sleep and hope this was all over soon. "Don't worry, there's a town nearby, let me take you to it and i'm sure they'll help you." She simply nodded again, the cinnamon tabby stood up, allowing her to lean on a should for support. She let out a delighted purr, guiding them to the town. "My name is Alari by the way, what's yours?" She groaned, she couldn't remember...it was on the tip of her tongue though... "Nike- ni-...Nikki! It's...Nikki..." A small hum came from Alari, as she took her into some sort of den made from sticks and moss... Inside, there were small controlled fires, they were emit from sticks, that had been surrounded in stones to prevent any accidents. "Prim! Prim are you here?" A thin she-cat came out of the darkness, looking like a faint dark blur, only to soon be revealed as a solid black cat. The she-cat looked elderly, and frail with age. She let out a raspy, forced purr, "Well hello there, Alari! Who is your friend here?" Alari let out a purr, and began to explain the situation to the healer, Nikki looked around, hollowed out stones held water and herb mixtures in them, there were plants stuffed into walls, and a small place where the ground had been turned up then padded back down, light flooded from the roof over that place, and small herbs were beginning to bloom over it. Nikki felt Alari begin to guide her over to a nest, she didn't resist. She needed to rest, badly. As she was lay on soft moss with feathers lining the nest, Prim ordered Alari to wait outside while she worked. she heard the sound of shuffling paws, before Alari was gone from the dimly lit den. Nikki felt paws pressing to any small cuts or scratches that she had. Then, a stinging sensation scorched through her pelt. Quickly, Prim set a leaf of poppy seeds down in front of her. She licked them up, and just like that, the pain ebbed away. Nikki suddenly felt drowsy, and didn't resist the claws of sleep taking her. Swallowing her into the jaws of a dream land... "Alright, i'm done." Prim woke her from her sleep, she nodded, and started to force herself to her paws. Only for Prim to stop her in the act. "What all can you remember, Nikki?" Nikki hesitated, her ears flattened against her head. She could remember everything after washing up on the beach, but nothing before that... "Nothing but after I woke up from the beach..." With a nod, Prim flicked her tail in dismissal to Nikki, the grey she-cat left the den. Then, only to be greeted by Alari, who was bright-eyed bushy-tailed and ready to go! "Come on! I wanna show you something!" Nikki didn't have a chance to speak, being dragged off somewhere by Alari. Finally, after what felt like hours, they were at some sort of den made of stones. The top was made of leaves, twigs, tree limbs, and grass weaved together. Right in front of the entrance, there was a hole with a layer of sticks covering it so no-one would fall in. As Alari stepped onto the twig layer, a screech come from below, making her jump in suprise and scramble back. "Where are we?" Alari flattened her ears, and smiled. The cinnamon she-cat turned back around to face Nikki. Nikki now noticed, since she felt better, her vision could focus better now, Alari had clear pumpkin eyes to match her cinnamon tabby pelt. Nikki thought it was pretty neat. "We're at the Stoneclawed Guild! A place where rescue teams and explorer teams train to go out into the world!" Nikki pricked her ears, interested of what the she-cat in front of her had to say. Alari didn't wait for a reaction, as she went on. "So, there are Rescue Teams, Explorer Teams, Healers, and Guild-helpers. For every Guild you must have at least one fully trained Explorer team, one fully trained Rescue Team, one healer, and one guild-helper. also, of course, a leader! I know this is a bit sudden, but you must have no play to stay right? I want to train to be a rescue team! Will you be my partner?!" Nikki didn't know what to say. this was sudden, but, Alari was right: she had no place to stay! Along side that, this may be a chance to start a life that she could remember properly! With a sigh, she nodded, and stepped onto the panel. "Cat detected! Cat detected!" She flinched, watching as something peeked out form the moss in front of the den. "Come on in you two!" Nikki and Alari slowly made their way into the den... It was amazing! There were cats battle training under the supervision of an adult tom. Some checking a flat stone with strange markings on it... that was it? Nothing else? A dappled she-cat came forward, narrowing two different colored eyes at her and Alari. "Excuse me? The in-trainers are at their training time. We don't have the need for distractions of visitors." Alaris pumpkin eyes widened in surprise, and she jumped up at the she-cats statement. "No! no! We're here here sign up for training to be in a rescue team!" The dappled she-cats eyes widened, and she turned around, mumbling things to herself about the training, Nikki looked unsure, was this all the den was? Where was the rest of the guild, if there was any? Before she could think of anymore questions, the she-cat turned back around to face them. "Alright! My name is Scatter! I'm then guild-helper and second in command. If you wish to sign up to be a rescue team, please follow me!" Nikki was surprised by the sudden action, but went on anyways, she gasped went a tunnel o underground was uncovered, and there was light down there! "Down here to out leaders den please." Nikki didn't hesitate to climb down the stones edges into the walls, it looked as though they were forced there, but she didn't think much of it. once all three cats were down, Nikki looked around once again. Cats were sharing prey set in bowls and mixed together, there were some going into different rooms and hallways, some were waiting for something...she didn't know what but. they looked about as young as her and Alari. Scatter guided them over to the one room where moss covered the entrance with stone on either side of the entrance. "Puma, my leader?" they waited in a moment of silence, it felt like lifetimes of waiting. However, finally, a voice rang out from the other side. "Come in, Scatter. Bring the visitors with you." Before Nikki could question it, they were pushed in, to be greeted by a beautiful dapple golden she-cat. Was this Puma? Before Nikki could say anything, Scatter let out a forced, nervous purr... "Puma, my leader, these two want to sign up to be a rescue team of their own." Puma let out a cheerful purr, opening her eyes to reveal a bright emerald color. "but of course! Just say your team name and we'll put you with the others!" Alari froze up, did she ''really ''not have thought of a team name before all of this happened?! Puma began to get a look of doubt, while Nikki suddenly stepped up. "Our team name is The Unknown Beyond."